Many who thought they would retire by 62 must keep working to save. / Digital Vision/ Getty Images

by Susan Tompor, USA TODAY

by Susan Tompor, USA TODAY

Thomas Palka, 52, said he thinks people need to shift into a different frame of mind if they want to one day have enough money to retire. It's not enough to simply put a lid on retail therapy. Or pull out a calculator to run the numbers.

"A lot of people lost their homes and they knew how to use a checkbook," said Palka, a former financial planner in Michigan.

After the financial crisis five years ago, Palka says many Baby Boomers now need to invest in themselves and their own vision. He spent about $80,000 developing and marketing his own dream, called "The Money Shift," a game that's designed to help young people find their calling. He's trying to raise more money via a Kickstarter campaign, an online crowdsourcing method, for a video game version for mobile devices.

"One of the drawbacks of being self-employed is that you can take all your money and reinvest it in your business," said Palka, who doesn't have a pension. He's not planning on retiring soon.

"I'm pretty much stuck like everyone else," he said. But he's hopeful his game will work well, help students learn more about money and he will be able to work for several more years ahead.

"Stuck" is a good word, though, for many of those who thought about retiring at 60 or 62 one day. Nearly half of those who have not yet retired say they will need to work longer and delay their retirement from what they had previously planned, according to a PNC Perspectives on Retirement Survey.

The main reason: They need to work longer to save for retirement.

The new survey from the PNC Financial Services Group confirms a trend of disappearing pensions, too. About 43% of those who are not yet retired and still working said they have a pension; but about 64% of those who are retired have a pension, according to the PNC survey.

While home prices have edged up and the stock market has been robust enough to drive the Dow back above the 15,000 mark, many people still aren't on the comfortable footing they were in 2007.

Sure, most people don't deal with panic attacks every day about their money, like they did back in September 2008 when the financial collapse dragged down stocks for months.

But "that stigma of what happened five years ago is still there," said Lisa Sampson, managing director of PNC Wealth Management in Troy, Mich.

What happens if you retire now but face another market meltdown in stock prices that dramatically wipes out wealth?

The average 401(k) balance was $58,991 at the end of 2011. That's up significantly from the average of $45,519 at the end of 2008 after the financial meltdown, according to the latest research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The study involved a database of 24 million 401(k) participants holding $1.4 trillion in assets.

But it's still well below the average $65,454 in 401(k) accounts in 2007 before the financial collapse.

To be sure, the average 401(k) balance did drop significantly as people changed jobs or lost jobs during the recession, as well. Some of that money in 401(k)s could have been rolled over to Individual Retirement Accounts.

For those in their 60s with more than 30 years of tenure, there's about a 1% drop in balances in 2011 compared with 2007, according to EBRI's data.

Even so, many realize that they could easily outlive their money. Sampson said people are starting to understand that they won't necessarily be able to spend all that much less in retirement than they do now. Many may still have mortgage payments, need to pay property taxes, and face other big bills. If they're healthy, they want to travel. If they're not healthy, they may need a good deal of money to cover medical bills.

"You really have to take retirement into your own hands," Sampson said.

Connie DeMetsenare, 48, is attempting to control her retirement as best as she can by holding down debt and boosting savings.

DeMetsenare, who lives in Warren, Mich., said she'd qualify for a small pension for her old job and expects maybe $300 or so a month.

"I could not retire on that," she said.

Her current job for Empire Foods has a 401(k) plan, not a pension. She saves enough money to receive a 6% match from her employer. Connie and her husband, Raymond, paid cash when they moved into a bigger home and no longer have a mortgage.

"A lot of people buy more house than they can afford, so they cannot afford to retire," said Connie DeMetsenare.

But she knows that things can change along the way, unexpected events can change retirement dates. Her husband once wanted to retire at age 57 from his job at Kroger, but recession and the market collapse hurt his retirement savings and he ended up retiring at age 61.